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Crowd disruption doomed abortion bill

Crowd disruption doomed abortion bill

Official word didn’t come until 3 a.m. — long after the largely orange-clad spectators disrupted a Senate vote by unleashing 15 minutes of deafening screams — when Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst returned to the chamber microphone to announce that tough abortion regulations did not pass Tuesday.

“Regrettably,” he acknowledged, midnight had come and gone while senators were still voting on Senate Bill 5, negating passage.

“It’s been fun and, uh, see you soon,” he said, acknowledging that the next step is up to Gov. Rick Perry, who is considered likely to call a second special session, giving Republicans plenty of time to move the abortion regulations into law.

Perry had put the Legislature on a tight — and ultimately futile — schedule by adding abortion to the 30-day session’s workload with 14 days to spare.

And tight deadlines led to the spectacle that played to an international audience via the Internet and social media as Sen. Wendy Davis, D-Fort Worth, launched what she hoped would be a 12 hour and 42 minute filibuster to kill SB5.

Republicans, watching closely for mistakes that could doom the filibuster, engaged in a series of objections throughout the night, knowing that three violations would lead to a vote to stop Davis from speaking.

About 9:40 p.m., Sen. Donna Campbell made the objection that, after a long discussion away from the microphone, became the third and final strike against Davis.

Davis, who had been going strong and had shown no sign of flagging, was done talking for the night, but her filibuster took off in other forms.

The audience, outraged at the ruling by Dewhurst, broke into a chant: “Let her speak! Let her speak!”

That’s also when it became apparent that there were not enough Department of Public Safety troopers to control the crowd. One section of the gallery was cleared of most spectators, and several others were forcibly evicted. Most of the chanting crowd — who could have faced 48 hours in jail for disrupting the legislative process — was left in place.

Afterward, Davis said the crowd was inspired by an unfair ruling.

Senate filibuster rules require the speaker to address only the bill in question. Two of the strikes against Davis were for “germaneness” — one for discussing the U.S. Supreme Court decision granting women the right to an abortion, and the final strike for mentioning the 2011 law requiring a pre-abortion sonogram.

Davis and other Democrats argued that the topics were certainly germane to a discussion involving abortion, but Dewhurst disagreed, declining calls to explain the basis of his ruling.

Democratic senators moved to stall proceedings, calling numerous points of order — each requiring a parliamentary ruling — and what turned out to be a real time drain, a motion by Sen. Kirk Watson, D-Austin, to appeal Dewhurst’s third-strike ruling.

The crowd was already cheering Sen. Leticia Van de Putte, D-San Antonio, who objected to not being recognized to speak instead of Patrick: “At what point must a female senator have to raise her hand or her voice to be recognized over the male colleagues in the room?”

Unlike the Texas House, where votes are taken by pressing buttons on each representative’s desk and are displayed on large electronic boards, the Senate votes by roll call. Senators hold up fingers, one for yes, two for no.

The crowd, clapping and hooting throughout, unleashed a sustained scream that drowned out the gavel that was being banged for order — a prodigious feat, because that gavel normally echoes throughout the chamber. Emboldened, the volume continued to grow, and senators were unable to hear their names as they were called.

Eventually, Sen. Robert Duncan, R-Lubbock — who had been leading the Senate since Dewhurst stepped down during the appeal of his third-strike ruling — announced: “There being 19 ayes and 10 nays, the previous question is adopted.”

The mayhem continued while senators were hurriedly gathered at the front desk so they could hear the roll call on the vote for SB5. Suddenly, Sen. Royce West, D-Dallas, stepped away — brandishing his cell phone, which read the time: 12:00.

“Mr. President, what time is it?” he yelled. “What’s the time?”

“We are the people!” a spectator yelled as relative quiet descended.

“We can’t take a vote after midnight,” West yelled. “Constitutional point of order.”

Dewhurst reappeared at the microphone: “Member’s, it’s now past midnight, I’m going to look for a motion from Sen. Whitmire to sine die,” or declare the session over.

Sen. John Whitmire, D-Houston and dean of the Senate, declined as reporters standing nearby called out to Dewhurst, pleading for an explanation on the vote. He walked away without acknowledging.

The Senate never adjourned, and a final vote total was not announced, or at least not audibly.

Senators from each party claimed victory as they were mobbed by reporters who, facing deadlines, had no idea how to report the vote.

Texas Legislature Online, the Internet portal for the Legislature, initially posted notice that the bill was approved on Wednesday, past the midnight deadline. Around 1:05 a.m., that posting was changed to say SB5 passed on Tuesday, but reporters had already captured images of the initial posting, tweeting copies to their audience.

The gallery was mostly clear by then, but few seemed to have left the Capitol. Instead, the Rotunda floor was packed with people wearing orange, the designated color for opponents of the bill. A sit-in was underway outside the Senate chamber as well.

In the meantime, senators of both parties met in private in a back room as reporters mobbed the hallway. Word began leaking out that the bill was dead. At 3 a.m., the result was finally known.